The United States Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration has appointed Ms. Laura Ibañez as the agency’s new unit chief of its Specialty National Programs office that administers the National Farmworker Jobs Program. Ms. Ibañez comes to this position from the Labor Department’s Office of Disability Employment Policy. She is the daughter of a one-time seasonal farmworker father, and has other family members who still work in agriculture. AFOP has met several times with Laura since her job change and is looking forward to forging a strong, cooperative relationship with her. Greg Scheib remains in the office as her staff person with direct responsibility for NFJP matters.

Vitelli Promoted to Deputy Administrator

Ms. Kim Vitelli is also on the move. The Labor Department has promoted Ms. Vitelli to serve as the new deputy administrator for the Employment and Training Administration’s Office of Workforce Investment. Ms. Vitelli most recently worked as the chief of the Division of National Programs, Tools, and Technical Assistance in the Office of Workforce Investment. In that capacity, she and her division were responsible for the National Farmworker Jobs Program, the Monitor Advocate system, the Disability Employment Initiative, the Senior Community Service Employment Program, Work Opportunity Tax Credits, national electronic tools such as CareerOneStop and O*NET, Labor Market Information grants, and ETA’s technical assistance delivery platform Workforce3one. While in that position, Kim led the development of the one-stop section of the proposed WIOA regulations. She also supported ETA in other capacities in the past, including overseeing the WIA waiver process and State Plan reviews, managing pilots and demonstrations, and providing technical assistance to the Senate on WIA reauthorization. The agency has not yet named Kim’s successor.